WORKERS at Nestl are considering strike action in protest at new working arrangements.

Staff on one of the Kit-Kat production lines in York said that signing up to the arrangements would cost them £10,000 in lost wages.

A compensation package has been rejected on their behalf by the GMB union.

Workers and union officials are accusing the company of reneging on a deal to offer 26 weeks' contractual overtime, saying it had been reduced to 14 weeks.

This is the second controversy to hit the plant this week, after new boss Chris White upset his management team by sending an e-mail ordering them to "excite" staff or look for work elsewhere.

His comments were felt by some to be ill-timed, coming as they did only two months after the announcement that 150 process jobs on the Kit-Kat, Aero and assortment lines at Wigginton Road, York, were to be cut.

In August, it was announced that 220 technical posts would be cut during the next 18 months.

The overtime crisis enveloping the firm has been caused by moves away from a Continental four-shift system that was introduced 18 months ago in response to increased demand for Kit-Kat.

Nestl had created regular weekend shifts that boosted workers' salaries by up to £9,000, but earlier this month wages were returned to their original level and staff said they were given little opportunity to improve pay packets by working overtime.

GMB local organiser John Kirk said: "There is absolute panic. We are prepared to strike."

But he said that was a last resort, and he would be looking at a range of procedures before balloting for industrial action.

"I am extremely concerned about the effect the company's decision will have on our members' lives," he said. "They have lost substantial amounts of money and should be compensated for that."

The problem is likely to get worse for Nestl, as it is understood a further 200 Aero and Kit-Kat staff will soon be affected by similar shift pattern changes.

A Nestl spokeswoman said the company was working with union officials to try to resolve the problems.

She said the change in shift patterns was because sales of Kit-Kat Chunky had "levelled out"